Special Service and Features
Marine product exports to be doubled from more than 50,000 crs to one lakh cr rupees in the next five years – Shri Piyush Goyal
Kochi: June 6, 2022
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that the aim of the country was to double marine product exports from more than 50,000 crore rupees to one lakh crore rupees within the next five years.
Speaking to media persons at Marine Products Export Development Authority , Kochi, Shri Piyush Goyal said this target can be achieved through sustainable fishing, ensuring quality and variety, promotion of coastal shipping and aquaculture, and by supporting the entire fisheries ecosystem. Earlier, the Minister also held discussions with fishermen from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karnataka.
Shri Piyush Goyal said that Free Trade Agreements had been finalized with UAE and Australia, while negotiations were progressing for such agreements with UK and Canada. The Minister said negotiations to reach an FTA with the EU will begin in Brussels on the 17th of this month. He said the effort was to provide market access and new opportunities for the country's exporters and consequently give fishermen a better future. The Minister also ruled out the possibility of shifting the office of MPEDA from Kochi.
Earlier, the Minister had an interaction with Seafood Exporters Association of India  at MPEDA and had an extensive discussion on various issues, challenges and solutions facing the sector. The Minister assured interventions from the Ministry to minimize the hurdles on the import of raw materials for value addition so that India can be transformed to a seafood processing hub in the near future. The exporters were urged by the Minister to educate, assist and encourage fishermen to follow sustainable measures in fishing and also to preserve the quality of the catch so that they will get better returns. The Minister also informed that the Indian missions abroad had geared up to help exporters in expanding their trade.
SEAI was represented by Shri Jagdish Fofandi, National President and Regional Presidents from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala besides other exporters from different states.
Shri K.N. Raghavan, Chairman, MPEDA, presented a road map targeting the export turnover of Rs 1 lakh crs by 2025.
Later, the Minister also had a discussion with stakeholders of the Rubber Sector at MPEDA. He assured the government’s support for the further development of the sector and exhorted all stakeholders to work towards making India self-sufficient in rubber. He reiterated the need for increase in production and productivity to bridge the gap between production and consumption of rubber in the country.
Shri K.N. Raghavan, Executive Officer, Rubber Board presented the road map for making India self-sufficient in rubber production.
Shri Piyush Goyal later visited the Spices Board Office in Kochi and interacted with various stakeholders there. Various issues pertaining to spices and their exports were discussed. The Union Minister urged stakeholders to rely on quality and value for sustainable growth. Shri A. G. Thankappan, Chairman, Spices Board and Shri D Sathyan, Secretary, Spices Board were present on the occasion.
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